Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Everything In Its Right Place
Summary: A tribute to Robert Frost. A possible ending to the series. Not a death fic. Also not "The Road Not Taken." COMPLETE!
1. Nature's First Green Is Gold

This is a fic based on my favorite poem by Robert Frost. It's an expanded one-shot. A possible ending for the series. It is a bit angsty but don't worry no one will die.

~ … ~: lines from the poem

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or "Nothing Gold Can Stay."

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

~ Nature's First Green Is Gold ~

Inuyasha walked through the forest. The wind blew his hair and yukata to the side. The breeze was chilly because it was not quite spring. The late afternoon sun bathed the bare trees in gold light. He was heading away from the Bone Eater's well. As much as he didn't want to think about it, His mind kept wandering to the time he first really noticed it. It was where Kagome would emerge from. He remembered the first time he saw her come out of it. She was so very beautiful. Her hair had sparkled in the mid-day sunshine. Her face was flushed from climbing. He could have stared at her for hours.

"What?"

"Keh! What took you so long?" That's what he always did. It would have been too easy to say he had been worried sick. It would have been too easy to say he missed her every moment. It would have been too easy to say he loved her. Inuyasha always did things the hard way. It was part of who he was. So for the longest time he just made snide comments. He remembered his battle with his treacherous brother. She had started to cry. It broke his heart. 

"What are you doing? We don't cry in battle!" She was so desperately upset. He didn't know if it was because she feared for herself or for him.

"What would you rather me do, laugh?" He wanted to yell to her that it would be okay. He would take care of her. Her crying made him more concerned about her than his own predicament and he needed all his focus to fight Sesshoumaru. But that's not what he said. Sometimes his mouth seemed to have a mind of it's own.

"I want you to shut up and let me protect you!" He did want that, but that's not how he meant to say it. He had wanted to be kind, but it just never worked out that way for him. It was the curse of talking without thinking. He was thinking now though. Thinking of her beautiful body that he had caught glimpses of when she bathed. Her smoky gray eyes that always showed him untold emotion. He sighed. She truly was perfect. The best he'd ever seen.

Inuyasha's thoughts drifted a bit as he continued walking down a well-worn path. He meditated on all the times Kagome had returned to her time through that very same well. He hated it when she left him. It was always because they were arguing. They couldn't seem to go more than three days without getting into some kind of tiff. She would run away.

"I'm going home!" She was forever yelling that at him. He thought it was funny at the time. He really didn't care too much. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. But eventually, her absence would start to hurt, and he would spend hours with his head on the lip of the well, just waiting for her to return. At times, he would even jump in to get her.

Kagome's world was so strange. The smells were different. The people were different. Even the weather was different. If it hadn't been for the God-tree that he knew all too well, he would never have believed that her world was his future. But it loomed in the courtyard of her shrine; the mark from his fifty year sleep still embedded on its side. He would march into her home as if he owned it and demand she come back with him. Sometimes she argued, sometimes she made him wait, but she would always come home with him. Well, to his home. She really didn't seem to belong there, even though she tried to. She tried so hard back then.

~ Her Hardest Hue To Hold ~

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

A/N: Please review. Moving on…


	2. Her Early Leaf's A Flower

Okay these are going to be real short chapters. Remember one-shot.

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

~ Her Early Leaf's A Flower ~

Kagome was always fighting too. Inuyasha couldn't help but reminisce about all the times she'd been captured, even though reminiscing was not what was best at that time. But she always managed to do it. It was as if she had a big sign on her that read, take me! Inuyasha always seemed to be going to her rescue. The thunder brothers kidnapped her. The peach man kidnapped her. The fire cats kidnapped her. But he was always there to save her. He was her hero. At least, that's how he felt. 

He thought now of all the times she had been his hero. Even when things were going badly for herself, she would do her best to help him. When his own Kaze No Kiza had struck him down, she had destroyed Kanna's mirror with her arrow. She had barely a soul left in her body, and she still managed to muster up the strength to save him. Just like she always had. He destroyed the demons; she gave him the ability too. She had bandaged the wounds he insisted were fine without it. They healed a lot faster when she did though. She stuck by his side when he needed it most. When his human body was poisoned by the spider-heads, he had almost died. She kept him alive. She talked to him and laid his head in her lap. Drinking in her sweet scent gave him the will to fight. The will to survive. She had stayed near him no matter what. When he was by the river, desperately trying to clean the blood of his hands, she was right there. She had placed her hand on his shoulder, even though he couldn't get rid of the smell. He had killed the innocent, and she had stayed by his side. But all that was before they defeated Naraku.

That day was a joyous one. With his Bakhurra coupled with her spirit arrow, Naraku died. Everyone was happy and holding each other. Sango had even let Miroku grab her without getting angry. Kagome picked up Naraku's jewel shards and reassembled the Shikon no Tama. It was whole again. Inuyasha had waited for her to hand it to him. He held big plans for the jewel. When she placed it in his hand, he was going to transform into a human forever. Words were not his strong point. He felt that the gesture would prove to Kagome his feelings. He would live with her forever, in whatever time she wanted. He would be her mate. He would spend the rest of his days trying to make her happy. All she had to do was put the jewel in his outstretched hand. But she never did. She had held it close to her heart that day.

"Inuyasha, I think I should hold on to this for a while. I feel like it needs to be with me." He had not asked her for the jewel that day. He wanted his transformation to be of her free will. He had waited a long time for her to hand it to him, she had promised to do so eventually. In that time their fights became more and more frequent. They stopped being good-natured arguments and became real battles. Neither would apologize and anger always boiled below the surface when they were together. She had slept close to Sango those nights. She was afraid he would come down and steal it. Inuyasha sat down on a stump in that golden forest and shook his head.

"I would never have stolen that jewel," he whispered to the empty wood, "I only wanted it to make you happy."

~ But Only So An Hour ~

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

A/N: Okay earlier were things from the show. Now I'm taking over. Run, Imagination, Run! Hahaha. Please review!


	3. Then Leaf Subsides To Leaf

And the story moves forward.

Disclaimer: Again with the seeing of chapter 1

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

~ Then Leaf Subsides To Leaf ~

Kagome would usually spend a week in Inuyasha's time and then go back home for three days. Eventually, she switched her routine. She started spending less and less time with him. She had told him of more important things she had to do. He didn't know what exams and senior research projects were, but he hated them. They kept her away from him. They kept her home. 

But they weren't the only reason her visits had become less frequent, and he knew it. He had heard her speak of a man named Hojo many times with Sango. She appeared so happy when she spoke of him. She never knew Inuyasha was listening. He would hide above her in the trees. Or maybe she did, and was saying those things to upset him. But that would mean she cared about him, and her affections had been steadily waning since the jewel's completion. This had hurt him. He cringed as he thought about it. He had tried so hard to be nice to her, but it was strained. Nice wasn't who he was. Angry, loud, overbearing, yes. But not nice. He was also desperately jealous, and that made being nice harder.

Then one day, she stopped coming all together. He waited for her everyday as usual. Then days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into a whole season. Autumn had come and gone, and Kagome hadn't returned.

"I can't take it anymore." He laughed about those words in the yellow forest. He had been very angry.

"She said she would be gone a while this time," Sango had told him. This had only made him more upset. Didn't she care? How could she be so calm about this? Of course, Sango didn't love Kagome like he did. No one did.

"It's already been a while." With that, his emotions had taken over. Kagome had asked him not to come get her anymore. She had said if she didn't come, there was a good reason. But he couldn't help it. He had needed to see her. It had been too long. 

The moment he had entered her house, he knew something was wrong. Her smell was so weak, like she hadn't been there for a long time. 

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" It had been Kagome's mother, greeting him like she had seen him only the day before, not months ago.

"I came to take Kagome back." He had been so sure of himself. He would walk right in and take her.

"Oh, Inuyasha, I'm sorry. Didn't she tell you? Kagome's away. She went to college in America." His ignorance hurt him. What did she mean away?

"Where is this America? I will go there and get her." He had been so used to getting what he wanted. He had decided just to go to where she was.

"America is all the way across the ocean. You can't just go get her Inuyasha." That had broken his heart. She had betrayed him again. First she didn't give him the jewel. Then she leaves without telling him. Kagome's mother had spent a long time that day, explaining to Inuyasha exactly what college was, and had to replace her coffee table a week later. Apparently, four years away from Kagome was too much for him. But he had decided to wait.

Four years came and went, and Kagome didn't come back to him. He had watched, as his friends grew older. Sango and Miroku had married. She bore him four children. After the first one, he had stopped asking the question to everyone. Shippo grew too. He was away now, with his mate. Inuyasha laughed at that. Shippo had a mate. It was the thunder sister he had fought so long ago. It was only he that was alone. The chilly wind blew a little harder and ruffled his hair. It blew over his face. He was glad for that. He hated his face after what had happened earlier that day. Everyone else had grown but him. He was the same. Stuck in perpetual youth. Doomed to be forever seventeen.

~ So Eden Sank To Grief ~

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

A/N: One more chapter to go. Hope you like it so far. Please review.


	4. So Dawn Goes Down To Day

Okay, final chapter.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the concept.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

~ So Dawn Goes Down To Day ~

The events from earlier that day would never leave his mind. He had come to the forest to get away from it, but it followed. It would forever more he guessed. It really should have been a wonderful occasion, but it wasn't. That day, Kagome had returned to him. He had been sitting in a tree watching the well. It had become a daily ritual. He hadn't really expected to see her face ever again, but he couldn't get away from that spot. The possibility was always there. Then, she had just popped out of the well. Just like always. But it wasn't just like always. Things had changed. She was older, more beautiful. Her figure had filled out, and her face had the look of maturity on it. It was the mark of age. He had jumped down to meet her.

"You're late." It had been all he could think of to say. He expected her first words to him to be something along the lines of, "I'm sorry," or, "I've missed you."

"My god! You haven't changed at all." She was right. He wasn't really a human. He had lived nearly three times as long as she, and he looked exactly the same as when she had last laid eyes on him.

"What are you doing here?" He had really wanted to know why she came back. Did she miss him? Did she come to apologize and confess her love?

"Inuyasha, things have changed since I was last here. I came to tell you good-bye a final time." Those words had wrenched his heart. A final time? 

"Why, Kagome? Why would you do that?"

"I have grown up, Inuyasha. I am out of school now. I am somebody's wife." Those words had shocked him. Kagome, the love of his life, had taken a husband, and that man was not him. He should have noticed. Her scent had changed to inter mingle with his.

"But…" He had been unable to continue. He had no words to express how he was feeling. 

"Hojo is a good man. I came to give you this." She handed him the Shikon no Tama.

"Why?"

"Because it was yours all along. I was just to selfish to give it to you." She had walked up to him and caught him in an embrace. Then, just as quickly, returned to the lip of the well.

"I will never forget you, Inuyasha. Good-bye." And with that, she had gone. Inuyasha had not responded to her farewell. He had just stood there for a while, then walked into the forest.

He looked up from his place on the stump, though the bare trees. A few birds that were early from their southern sojourn sang in the branches. Inuyasha tightened his grip on the small trinket in his hand. He got up and began to head back toward the well. It was almost funny. He had been searching for sixty years for that jewel. It was all he could think about for the longest time. But as of late, Kagome had been the only thing on his mind. Then she came back and gave him the jewel, only to reveal that she was unavailable to him. 

When he reached the well, he looked down at the small sphere in his palm. There was so much it could do. It had almost infinite power. But in his hand it was only a glass ball. It was too late. His everlasting youth kept him from what he needed. Even if Kagome was to separate from Hojo, he now appeared to be eight years her junior. She would grow old and die, and he would still be the same. He stared at the jewel for a moment more then threw it vehemently down the well.

"You can't give me what I want now." And with that, he walked away.

~ Nothing Gold Can Stay ~

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

A/N: Well that's it. I just really wanted to incorporate the poem somehow. I was tired of all the poem/song fics in which people set the scene, change one word in the song, add one line of dialogue, and call it original. It just bothers me. Sorry about that little rant. Most song fics are good; it's just those few. Grrrrr. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please tell me what you think. Review people!


End file.
